Carbureter



(No Model.) W. H PINQKNEY.

GARBURETER.

No. 603,431. Patented May 3,1898.

runs rn'zas 60., Ma'rourua. WASHINGTON o c WILLIAM E. PINOKNEY,

PATENT OFF CE.

or oHIo'Aco, ILLINOIS.

CARBURETER.

SPEOIFICATQNEforming part of Letters Patent No. 603,431, dated May 3, 1898.

I :Appl iqation filed April 10, 1897.

- .To alZiwhom it map concern Be it-known that L'WILLIAM E. PINOKNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illi= nois, have invented Icertain newand useful Improvements in Carbureters; and I do declare the followingto be a-full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains' to make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, "and to the letters of .referen'ceJnarke'd thereon,"

which form a part of this specification.

The invention relatesto that class. of carbureters-in which air or. gas which it may be desired to further 'enrichxis passed through a body of hydrocarbon, such as gasolene, so that it becomes carburjeted as it bubbles up through the liquid. V l

The inventionhas for one of its objects the provision of means for regulating the distance through which the vapor to be enriched shall pass through the liquid hydrocarbon.

An additional object is to provide improved means for distributing or subdividing within the liquid body the vapor'whichis to be enriched.

The objects are obtained by the various parts and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully set forth, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of the carbureter and its appurtenances. Fig: 2 is a sectional view, partly in elevation, on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a modifiedformof the valve-regulating mechanism. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the air-distributer, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Devices of this kind are usually employed for domestic service; and consist of a reser voir and a carbureting-chain ber, together with suitable filling and distributing pipes, all of which are usually located in a specially-pre-v pared subterranean chambenupon the premises of the user. In the present case the reservoir consists'of a plurality of cylinders A A, horizontally disposed; While in the ma-' chine fornflihgv the subject of this application.

.it is of less importance than in most machines of this type, I prefer to use a plurality of hori- Serial No. 631,623. (No model.)

zontally-disposed cylinders as a reservoirin order that the level of the liquid may not change through a very extended range as the reservoir is emptied. .The cylinders A A are filled by means of. a U-shaped pipe B, the outer end of which is intended to be convenient of access .andis closed by a screw-cap b.

The bow of jthe U islower than either the reservoir or the carbureting-chamber and en- .ters the former through the bottoms of the tanks A. The carbureter proper isa cylinder 0, preferablyvertically disposedgand supofwhich is controlled bya downwardly-opening val'veF- IA cylinder G leads upwardly from the valve-casing E and isiopen' to the interior .thereof upon the'same side of the partition '6 as the cylinder 0. A float f is lo fcated within the cylinderG and is connected with the valve F by means of the stem f, so

that when the liquid has reached the-desired level in the cylinder C it lifts the float and closes the valve F, cutting off the further supply to the cylinder Ountil the level of the liquid therein has been lowered. The upper end of the cylinderG is vented to the cylinder 0, asshown at g.

Air or other vapor which it may be desired to enrich is delivered to the machine under pressure through a pipe H, which is provided with an ordinary check-valve, as indicated at h, for the purpose of checking back pressure. The pipe H enters a casing J, extending upwardlylfrom' the top of the cylinder (J, and reaches the latter through a tube K, which extends upwardly through the casing J and has lateral openings, as It, for the induction of the air, such openings being located between a lower and an upper 'stuffing-box j j; crossing. the casing J. A suitable bearingblock it is located within the" cylinder 0 for steadying the lower end of the tube K. Any desired form of air-distributer, as L, maybe applied to the lower end of the tube K. For this purpose I use a disk M, of sheet metal, having a central aperture inclosed by a later- IOO ally extending internally screw threaded flange adapted to a suitable screw thread formed upon the exterior of the tube K, the disk M also having a downwardly-projecting peripheral flange m. A strip of sheet metal P of greater width than the flange m is coiled to spiral form and attached along one of its edges to the under face of the disk M, the inner end 1) of this coil being located near, but not in contact with, the pipe K, and the outer end 19 being located near, but not in contact with, the flange on, so that a convolute passage P is provided, leading from the tube K and terminating within the flange m. Baflieplates Q are located across the passage P and are as numerous as the judgment of the maker may dictate. These baiiie plates extend downwardlyfrom the disk M a short distance. The flange in is preferably provided with an annular series of small apertures m near its lower edge. The pipe K extends below the disk M, but need not, and preferably does not, extend below the coil P.

A rack R is secured to the upper end of the tube K and is in alinement therewith, this rack cooperating with a pinion r, mounted upon a horizontal shaft S, journaled in a suitable bearing carried by a bracket-hanger s, projecting upwardly from the casin g J. The shaft S leads to any convenient place, such as the basement of a dwelling in connection with which the machine is used, and is provided with a hand-wheel s or other means by which it may be rotated for the purpose of raising and lowering the tube K. As the shaft S may be of considerable length and passes through the ground, I preferably inclose it within a tube 3 within which it is free to turn. Any other means for shifting the tube K may of course be employed.

A delivery-pipe 0 leads from the top of the carbureting-cylinder O to any suitable distributing system. A vent-pipe U connects the reservoir A A with the upper portion of the cylinder 0, so as to equalize the pressure within the two chambers. A pipe T leads downwardly from the bottom of the cylinder O,and returning extends upwardly, its upper end being convenient of access and being closed by a screw-cap 25. A pump may be applied to the pipe T for the purpose of cleaning the cylinder C.

In this type of machine the richness of the gas delivered from it depends not only upon the distance through which the vapor to be carbureted travels through the liquid hydrocarbon, but also upon the specific gravity of the latter,thelighteror higher grades of gasolene being much more volatile than the heavier or lower grades, so that when a high grade of gasoleneis used the vaporneeds to travel a shorterdistance through the liquid than when a low grade is employed, and hence in order that the gas delivered from the machine may be of uniform quality it is essential either that the gasolene shall be strictly of a uniform grade or that means be provided for introducing the air at various depths within the liquid body.

It is found in practice that commercial gasolene varies greatly in specific gravity notwithstanding its accredited test. It is also found that in any considerable quantity, such as a barrel, there is a material difference in the specific gravity between the top and the bottom. For these reasons unless special means are provided for adapting the machine to the particular quality of the material being used there will be a constant variation in the quality of the gas.

By filling the reservoir from the bottom I pass the new supply through any which may remain in the reservoir, thereby fairly intermingling the new charge with the old. By maintaining the liquid in the carburetingcylinder at a uniform level the air or vapor is uniformly treated and the resultant gas is of uniform quality unless the density of the liquid varies. Should the character of the flame produced indicate that too much or too little hydrocarbon is being taken up, the tube K may be shifted so as to raise or lower the distributer L, thereby exposing the vapor to the liquid hydrocarbon a shorter or a longer time. The pipe K may be given a considerable range of movement, the stufTing-boxjy" being spaced apart a suilicient distance, so that the lateral openings 7.; will always be inclosed between them.

The action of the special form of distributer shown is as follows: Gasolene will enter the passage P until the lower edges of the baffle-plates Q are submerged, leaving airpockets between the baffle-plates and a quantity of air around the lower end of the tube K and also inside of the flange m. Vapor entering through the pipe K will rise around its lower end until checked by the disk M and will follow the channel I" to the first baffle-plate Q. The vapor accumulating forces down the gasolene below the level of this bailleplate, when the augmenting pressure is communicated to the space between the first and second baffieplates, crowding the air therein under the second plate into the succeeding pocket, and so on until the annular passage beyond the coil is reached. As the volume of vapor is increased within this annular passage the gasolene is crowded back until the vapor reaches and escapes from the aperture m. If desired, these apertures may be dispensed with, as the vapor will be forced back and escape under the edge of the flange m; but inasmuch as it may not be desirable to provide for such a nicety of construction that the lower edge of the flange at will be in a strictly horizontal plane I prefer to use a large number of small vent-holes, so as to better distribute the vapor and prevent all danger of it escaping at one side of the distributer, and

hence in large volume. By employing the vent-holes the vapor is discharged from the distributer in small streams and bubbles up through the liquid in small globules, thus greatly increasing the area exposed directly to the "liquid. The baffle-plates Q may be dispensed with but by their use the vapor is caused to dip repeatedly into the liquid. This distributer by securing a much more intimate intermixing of the vapor with the liquid than has heretofore been accomplished need not be submerged to great depth.

It will be seen that by the construction shown the reservoir may be filled and the carbureting-cylinder cleansed of any accumulation of impurities without interrupting the carbureting operation and without the loss of any of the gas. The service-pipe D enters the cylinder 0 below the lowest point ever reached by the distributer L, so that vapor introduced through the latter will not find its way into the reservoir through this tube.

In lieu of the float for controlling the valve F, I may use a flexible diaphragm f, to the center of which the valve-stem f is securely attached and which is clamped between the meeting edges of apair of concave plates G g, forming a casing which is mounted at the top of and is .open to the cylinder G. When this device is used, it will close the valve by upward pressure upon the diaphragm when the level of the liquid in the cylinder 0 is above the plane of the diaphragm. Bycon structing the parts of light material the diaphragm is very sensitive and is raised by slight pressure. When the diaphragm is in its normal position, the valve is open.

A great advantage is obtained in carbureters of this class by delivering the liquid to the carbureting-cylinder near its lower end for the reason that the liquid increases in density as it is acted upon by the air, its lighter portions being taken up by the air before its heavier portions are liberated, and as the liquid enters at the bottom of the cylinder it rises and becomes intermixed with that already in the cylinder, thus tending to keep the density more nearly uniform, and consequently securing a geater uniformity in the quality of the gas. In thecarbureters here tofore made the service of the liquid has been to the top or upper portion of the carburet ing-chamber above the point at which the air or vapor is admitted, and as a result the latter has circulated through the liquid in the reservoirand reduced its specific gravity simultaneously with that contained in the carbureting-cylinder. By preventing the circulation of the vapor through the liquid in the reservoir I provide for a constant feed of fresh hydrocarbon to the carbureting-cylhausted, in this manner also contributing to the unformity in the quality of the gas.

I claim as my inventi'on 1. In a carbureter of the class described the located between said boxes, and a servicepipe entering such casing between the stuffing-boxes.

2. In a carbureter of the class described,the combination with a carbureting-cylinder, of a casin g projecting upwardly from the cylinder and having a pair of stuffing-boxes spaced apart, of a vertically-adj ustable vapor-induction pipe entering the cylinder through the lower stuffing-boxand being open to the interior of the casing thereabove and having a stem extending through the upper stuffingbox, and a service-pipe entering such casing between the stuffing-boxes.

3. In a carbureter of the class described,the combination with a carbureting-cylinder, and a vapor-induction pipe entering the cylinder, of an imperforate radial disk at the inner end of the tube and having a pendent annular perforated flange.

4. In a-carbureter of the class described,the combination with a carbureter-cylinder, and a vapor-induction pipe entering the cylinder and arranged to have its discharge end submerged within the liquid, of an imperforate radial disk at the inner end of the tube and having a pendent annular flange, and a pendent spiral flange within the annular flange.

5. In a carbureter of the class described, the combination with a carbureter-cylinder, and a vapor-induction pipe entering the cylinder, of a radial disk at the inner end of the tube and having a pendent annular flange, a pendent spiral flange Within the annular flange, and pendent baffle-plates crossing the upper portion of the convolute passage inclosed by the turns of the spiral flange. Y

6. In a carbureter of the class described,the

combination with a carbureting-cylinder, a

reservoir and a passage connecting the two, of a valve for controlling the passage, means for automatically actuating such valve to maintain the liquid in the cylinder at a uniform level, and a vertically-adj ustable vaporinduction tube entering the cylinder.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

I WILLIAM E. PIN OKNEY.

Witnesses:

LoUIs K. GILLsON, HESTER BAIRD. 

